Reply by sprucegum

Buy local from land owners and small mill operators whenever possible. A land owner who owns his own mill just does not need the same price as a retailer. I have sawed some pretty nice lumber from logs that would be considered extremely low value because of size or defects. As a for instance a 8” X 12’ cherry log with a seam and a couple of poor faces would be considered pallet grade and would be worth under .20/bdft delivered to a mill or buying yard, it would scale around 32 bdft depending on the scaler and rule being used. This log would bring the land owner a whopping $6.40 provided he did his own harvest and trucking. The same log sawed on a band mill would yield at least 35 bdft with at least a couple FAS grade boards and some poorer boards with a lot of good usable wood in them. If the land owner sawyer can get $1.00/ ft the same log will bring him over 5 times as much. You will find most land owner sawyers willing to negotiate on price if you buy the whole pile or at least a good amount; I know I am always open to offers. If you don’t need it all split it with a buddy or sell some of the surplus your self.

-- A tube of calk and a gallon of paint will make a carpenter what he ain't